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This is one of our all-time favourite recipes when you want an indulgent pasta without the calories. Cooking the pasta with the broccoli saves time and cleaning up – who doesn’t love a dinner that’s on the table in 15 minutes?

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets and the stem cut into dice

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

500g pasta of your choice (we love orecchiette or any other small pasta shape for this recipe)

Handful pine nuts

Method

1. Cook the pasta and broccoli together in boiling salted water.

2. While the pasta and broccoli is cooking, heat a small pan over low-medium heat and cook the garlic in the olive oil. Make sure it doesn’t burn.

3. When the pasta and broccoli are done, drain them in a colander together, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

4. Put the pasta and broccoli into the pan with the oil with garlic and crush the broccoli with the back of a fork. It’s fine to leave some florets whole for texture. Add a little of the pasta cooking water if the sauce is too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Take the pan off the heat, add the grated parmesan and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Serve with a salad.